Politics

Sunday shows talk Benghazi scandal and the GOP's future

By Andrew Malcolm11/17/2012 01:00 PM ET

Obama bobblehead doll

Now that we have adultery and possibly-more-than-flirty emails in the Libya story, the Washington media pack is all over it. We had the required list of boinkees here the other day for your sexual scorecard-keeping.

Face the Nation has three senators from various committees investigating the scandal surrounding the abandoned four Americans and the ensuing cover-up:

Olympia Snowe, Dick Durbin and John McCain, whom you may remember from an unsuccessful 2008 presidential campaign and pretty much every Sunday since.

You may remember S. Rice from her controversial appearances in mid-September on five Sunday shows, reciting talking points that explained how the Benghazi consulate deaths and sacking were all about an obscure video.

That, of course, has since been debunked as completely inaccurate from the very first hours, although at his news conference this week Obama tried to defend Rice, as we detailed here. The question remains who knew they were phony claims and when.

CNN's State of the Union had to settle for mere members of the same committees, Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger and Sen. Roy Blunt. Also invited are Rep. Tom Price and Durbin to discuss the so-called fiscal cliff talks that threaten to make Obama's stalled economy even worse come January.

ABC's This Week has booked Sen. Carl Levin and Rep. Peter King on Benghazi and Martha Raddatz interviews Nancy Pelosi for some reason. The has-been ex-speaker announced to widespread yawns this week that she intends to stay as non-speaker atop the House Democrat minority.

So, you can catch up on that excitement and the budget negotiations that convened in the White House the other day, which both sides are describing as positive because no one wants to look obstructionist at this stage.

The talks won't go anywhere now until after Thanksgiving. That's because, while most of the country only gets one or two days off for the holiday, Congress needs almost two weeks.

Also, Obama leaves this afternoon for several days in Asia before he rushes back to officially pardon a pair of doomed Thanksgiving birds. Check your local newscasts and front pages for exciting photos of turkeys assembled behind the White House.

Thankfully, Fox News Sunday has some some non-D.C. types to talk. Naturally, it has to go over Benghazi with Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Joe Lieberman, who's in his final weeks representing Connecticut.

But Chris Wallace also talks with Govs. Scott Walker and Bobby Jindal, who will play major roles in rebuilding their Republican Party for the next presidential election. Republicans now govern 60% of the 50 states with a whopping majority of America's population.